PAST TOURS

Insider’s 6-Day Wine & Culinary Tour of Southern France & Chateauneuf-du-Pape | 2024

The tour will start in Perpignan and end in Avignon. Perpignan is super easy to get to from Barcelona which is where I suspect 99% of you will start from. Simply take the high speed train (300 km/hr!) from Barcelona Sants direct to Perpignan. There are zero connections…

Insider’s Bourbon Tour of Nashville and Kentucky | 2022

The first day in Nashville will include an exclusive, underground, members-only visit to a secret venue at an undisclosed location that has the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most open bottles of Bourbon in the world. I’ve been sworn to secrecy but here’s a little “sneak peek”…

Insider’s Wine Tour of California’s Central Coast | 2022

Everyone will meet in the pool courtyard at Quality Suites Hotel in SLO at 5:45 for a quick orientation meeting. Why 5:45? Because the hotel’s hosted happy hour starts at 5:30 and we want everyone to get a free glass of wine or beer to drink during the orientation, of course!

Insider’s 3-Day Valle de Guadalupe Wine & Culinary Tour | 2019

We are staying at a brand new resort hotel right in the Valle for the first time ever this year!!! This will save us the round-trip drive (45 minutes each way) to Ensenada everyday which means that we'll be able to spend that newly gained hour and a half more productively each day in the Valle. Because we're going in the off-season…

Wine & Culinary Tour of Tuscany & Cinque Terre | 2019

This will be a comprehensive, week-long wine and culinary tour of Tuscany including Florence, Chianti, Montepulciano, Montalcino, Montecucco, Maremma and Bolgheri with the finale in Cinque Terre. The tour will start in Florence and end in Porto Venere. Porto Venere is on the coast of the Italian Riviera and is the gateway to Cinque…

Insider’s Tequila & Culinary Tour of Jalisco | 2019

We’ll walk across the CBX bridge from Otay Mesa to the Tijuana airport and fly direct to Guadalajara. From there we’ll taxi to Hotel Morales, a beautifully restored historic hotel right next to the famous Plaza and within easy walking distance to many of the centuries old cathedrals and museums. After checking in and freshening up…

Insider’s Mescal & Culinary Tour of Oaxaca | 2019

After checking into the hotel you’ll have several hours of free time before we meet for an impromptu cocktail reception in the small park less than a block from the hotel. There are two restaurants there that make great to-go cocktails for about $3-4 so we’ll order up and hang out in the park for a bit until our private double-decker bus…

Wine & Culinary Tour of Tuscany & Cinque Terre | 2018

Wine Culinary Tour of Valle de Guadalupe | 2017

Everyone will meet at Wine Vault & Bistro Sunday morning for our legendary Bloody Mediterraneans and Mexican Coffees. After checking in and socializing a bit with your soon-to-become new best friends, we'll board the bus out front. Depending upon the border wait (usually about 30 minutes), we should arrive to Puerto Popotla, a quaint…

Bourbon & Culinary Tour of Kentucky | 2016

The tour will start and end in Louisville, Kentucky. Downtown Louisville is going through a major gentrification with tons of new hotels, restaurants, bars, specialty shops and micro distilleries popping up on every corner. It's definitely a food and Bourbon lover's paradise that I know everyone will enjoy immensely. We're staying…

Wine & Culinary Tour of Northern Spain | 2016

The tour starts on Sunday night in Madrid and ends on Saturday morning in Zaragoza. Zaragoza is midway between Barcelona and Madrid, and is served by a blazing fast (300 km/hr) high speed train that will get you back to either city in about an hour and a half. Many of you will want to extend your visit before and/or our tour, so keep in mind…

Wine & Culinary Tour of Valle de Guadalupe | 2015

Everyone will meet at Wine Vault & Bistro Sunday morning for our legendary Bloody Mediterraneans and Mexican Coffees. After checking in and socializing a bit with your soon-to-become new best friends, we'll board the bus out front with to-go drinks in hand. Depending upon the border wait (usually about 15 minutes), we should arrive…

Cocktail, Culinary, & Jazz Tour of New Orleans | 2015

We've reserved a block of interior courtyard rooms at the beautiful Royal Sonesta Hotel right in the heart of the French Quarter on Bourbon Street. This is hands down our favorite hotel in the Quarter and the interior courtyard rooms are quiet even though the hotel is right on Bourbon Street. Leave San Diego any time you want just…

Oregon Wine, Cocktail & Culinary Tour | 2014

After several “research” trips we are happy to report that we’ve put together another fantastic wine and cocktail tour with insider visits to some great wineries and vineyards in Willamette Valley (Oregon) and Columbia Gorge (both Oregon and Washington). We’ll fly up to Portland on Sunday afternoon where we’ll meet for a…

Barcelona & France Wine & Culinary Tour | 2014

Everyone will meet in Barcelona at Hotel Lleo on Sunday night. Hotel Lleo is only two blocks from La Rambla so it’s got the best of both worlds: it’s centrally located and it’s quiet. You are more than welcome to arrive a day or two early to get over jet lag and and acclimate to the local time, and yes, we have made arrangements with the hotel…

Tequila & Culinary Tour of Jalisco | 2014

We’ll meet in downtown San Diego on Saturday morning at the America Plaza Trolley Station (1050 India Street) and take the trolley ($2.50) to the border where we’ll exchange currency. You’ll need about 1,400-1,500 pesos (about $125 based on current exchange rates) for taxis and breakfasts that are not included in the tour…

Valle de Guadalupe Wine & Culinary Tour | 2013

Everyone will meet at Wine Vault & Bistro Sunday morning for our legendary Bloody Mediterraneans and Mexican Coffees. After checking in and socializing a bit with your soon-to-become new best friends, we’ll board the bus out front with to-go drinks in hand. Depending upon the border wait (usually about 15 minutes), we should arrive…

Sonoma & Napa Wine Tour | 2013

After several “research” trips we are happy to report that we’ve put together another fantastic wine tour with insider visits to some great wineries and vineyards in both Sonoma and Napa Valley. We’ll fly up to the Sacramento airport Sunday morning where our bus driver will be waiting for us in a luxury motor coach. We’ll spend the next…

Oregon Pinot Harvest Tour | 2012

After several “research” trips we are happy to report that we’ve put together a fantastic harvest tour with insider visits to some great wineries and vineyards in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. While it’s impossible to pinpoint with 100% accuracy, harvest should just be getting underway by mid September and usually goes three…

Cocktail, Culinary & Jazz Tour of New Orleans | 2012

We’ve reserved a block of interior courtyard rooms at the beautiful Royal Sonesta Hotel right in the heart of the French Quarter on Bourbon Street. This is hands down our favorite hotel in the Quarter and the interior courtyard rooms are quiet even though the hotel is right on Bourbon Street. We’ll leave San Diego Sunday morning…

Valle de Guadalupe Wine & Culinary Tour | 2011

Everyone will meet at Wine Vault & Bistro for Bloody Mediterraneans and Mexican Coffees. Then we’ll board the bus and head south of the border. We’re taking over virtually all of Hotel La Fonda, an old oceanfront hotel/resort/spa perched on the cliffs of La Mision overlooking the Pacific Ocean between Rosarito Beach and…

Mendocino & Sonoma Wine Tour | 2011

After several “research” trips we are happy to report that we’ve put together a fantastic tour with insider visits to some great wineries and vineyards in the Mendocino, Anderson Valley, Hopland and Sonoma wine regions. We’ll meet at Lindbergh Field Sunday morning and fly up to Oakland where our favorite bus driver…

Central Coast Wine Harvest Tour | 2010

After several “research” trips, we are happy to report that we’ve put together a fantastic harvest tour with insider visits to some great wineries and vineyards. If you’ve never experienced the actual harvest process, this will be a great opportunity to see firsthand how grapes go from vine to barrel to bottle…

Vineyards of California Road Trip | 2010

After three separate “research” trips, we are happy to report that we’ve finally put together a fantastic package with insider visits to some incredible wineries. We’ll fly out of San Diego Sunday morning to Sacramento, where our favorite bus driver Eric will be waiting for us in his half million dollar luxury motorcoach with onboard…

Valle de Guadalupe Wine & Culinary Tour | 2009

Everyone will meet at Wine Vault &Bistro for Bloody Mediterraneans and Mexican Coffees. Then we’ll board the bus and head south of the border. Our group will be taking over virtually all of Hotel La Fonda, an old oceanfront hotel/resort/spa perched on the cliffs of La Mision overlooking the Pacific between Rosarito Beach and…

Sonoma & Napa Wine Tour | 2009

Our favorite bus driver Eric will pick everyone up at the Oakland airport Sunday morning. Peter Thompson of Andrew Geoffrey will pour a three-year vertical (’03, ’04 and ’05) of his amazing Cabs. We’ll meet him at the base of Diamond Mountain and view his vineyard from afar as there’s no way a bus can navigate the steep windy…